Don’t all parents try to pass on their passions to their children? I know I try to at least share with Cait all the activities I love. Of course, the ulterior motive is to see if she’ll pick any of them up as interests, so that we can have things we enjoy doing together.
Naturally, some activities have clicked better than others; hiking, biking, going to the ballet, water color painting, and playing the piano. Most of my other interests … Read More
Cait’s assignment at school was to “write a memoir;” an essay on something that happened to her that fit the structure of memoir writing. At this stage, her teacher is not as concerned about punctuation as she is with getting the kids excited about writing.
This is what Cait wrote:
… Read MoreA Memoir
It was a warm day and I was 5, I was out in the garden picking peas with my mom and two dogs. My mother had asked me
From the mailbag: Samantha writes: You and Caitlin seem to have quite an amazing relationship. Has it always been so peachy? Don’t you ever lose your cool?
Dear Samantha: Like Kiera, my daughter came into my life to slap me upside the head and wake me up out of any sleep-walking through life I might have been inclined to do. From the very beginning, Cait has had a way of getting and holding my attention. Right from the emergency C-section, … Read More
“Mom, why do my eyes squint when I eat something sour?”
“It’s because of a pucker reflex.”
“Do you want some (Sour Skittles)?”
“No thanks, I don’t really like candy.”
“Mom, you’re not very kid-like.”
“I wasn’t very kid-like when I was a kid.”
“I’m a little kid-like, and a little not.”
“Yeah.”
“The kids on my bus are very kid-like. They had a burping contest this morning.”
“Can any of them burp the alphabet?”
“One kid got to ‘k’.”… Read More
“Mom,” Cait came running down stairs, “that robin is at it again! Even with the puppets in the window.”
We have a male robin who’s spending a great deal of his energy dive-bombing our glass door upstairs. Why? Because he sees his reflection in it, and perceives the image he sees to be that of a male intruder in his territory. He has been bashing himself into the door to get at this “aggressive intruder” for a few days. No … Read More
Just back in from the garden, where the peas will be ready to pick in a few weeks. Nobody in our family loved peas more than Magic. We’d have to race him back there just for the chance to eat a few raw off the vine, before Magic would have them all polished off.
He would have been eight today, if the neurological damage from Lyme disease hadn’t claimed him far too early.
Recently, we got to spend a few days on the ocean in South Carolina. The weather was perfect, the beach was spectacular, and Cait and I enjoyed a game we’ve been known to play for hours at a time. We’ve dubbed it “Must Sea TV.” It’s a simple game, really. You just bend over –or, better yet, get down on your knees (Cait’s demonstrating the proper pose for you above)– and investigate all the sea life the tides reveal.
Because … Read More
Anyone who’s had a young child in the last decade probably remembers Little Bunny Foo Foo. But in case you don’t know this song, it goes like this:
… Read MoreLittle Bunny Foo Foo,
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin’ ’em on the headDown came the good fairy and she said
“Little Bunny Foo Foo,
I don’t want to see you
Scooping up the field mice
And boppin’ ’em on the head.
I’ll give you three
…